


Served Cold

by thisbluespirit



Category: Dracula & Related Fandoms, Dracula (TV 1968)
Genre: Blood, Crueltide, Dark, Gen, Major Character Undeath, Mentions of Mina/Lucy, Post-Canon, Revenge, Rocks Fall Everyone Dies, Vampires, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-15 23:53:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13042170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisbluespirit/pseuds/thisbluespirit
Summary: Mina’s one remaining desire is simple: she wants revenge.





	Served Cold

**Author's Note:**

  * For [calliopes_pen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/calliopes_pen/gifts).



> Written for your prompt in which the Harkers team up at the end to have revenge on Van Helsing. Happy Yuletide!
> 
> (In the 1968 TV adaptation, Jonathan is effectively Renfield, and the ending sees Mina picking up Dracula's ring and still probably affected by his bite, despite his destruction.)

“It will be all right, Jonathan,” Mina said again and again in his ear as they walked away from the graveyard, down the endless steps from the cliff top. She kept hold of his arm and fixed her attention on him, ignoring Professor Van Helsing and Dr Seward walking in front of them. 

Her fingers tightened around the onyx ring in her hand – Dracula’s ring – and she hid a smile. Well, she was not entirely ignoring them, especially Dr Seward, although it was easier now that he’d calmed down a little from excitements of the night and his heart was beating more regularly. Until that point, it _had_ been rather distracting, she was willing to admit.

It seemed an age until they finally got Jonathan back to the Weston’s. Dr Seward had made some vague protest about taking him back to the asylum, but Mina had tightened her grip on her husband and refused to allow it. Jonathan’s difficulty had been the Count, and now the Count had gone, even if Jonathan was not yet quite himself, he could hardly be called dangerous.

To her surprise, the Professor had agreed with her. “After all, John,” he observed, “you may still attend him and if there is any further doubt –” He glanced at Jonathan, who was, in contrast to his possessed self, seemingly not in the least inclined to rant about his Master, blood, and death, or seize upon the nearest fly for sustenance. “If there is, I am sure Mrs Harker will let you know immediately.”

Nevertheless, Mina breathed out in considerable relief once she got Jonathan through the door and they were free of the other two. She slipped the coat Seward had lent her from her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor as she smiled. “Don’t worry, Jonathan. It will all be all right. I said so, didn’t I?” A darkness glinted in her smile as she held out the ring. “All will be well, no matter what the Professor may believe.”

Jonathan’s face cleared, and he laughed and snatched at her free hand to kiss it before reaching out for the other, for the ring.

Mina closed her fingers around it too swiftly for him. “Soon,” she said, her jaw giving a distinctive ache as she spoke. She would not long remain as she was, she knew, her heart thudding with the heady thrill of it. Her hold on the ring grew so tight that it cut into her palm and drew blood. “Soon, my darling.”

“Tonight,” said Jonathan, his gaze fixed on her.

“When the moment comes,” Mina told him, but she laughed, and put her arms around him, kissing him on the cheek. “We can’t go back now, can we?”

 

They couldn’t go back; they could only go on, into the darkness and out of the light. Jonathan had forgotten how to want anything else and even Mina thought the daylight too harsh now. She had fallen into the night seeking after Lucy and Jonathan and she was determined to go with the two who were dearest to her, wherever it led her. Jonathan was all haste for the transformation that would come – he would take Dracula’s ring from her if he could because all he wanted was any scrap of his Master that remained. Mina was more calculating: she wanted it too, but she would lead the way. Jonathan’s desires would never give her what she wanted most of all.

“Tonight?” Jonathan said again, hopefully, as he undressed for bed, following Dr Seward’s visit. “Mina, tonight!”

Mina shook her head. Dr Seward had been distracted in his examination of Jonathan, but he would need to be reassured as to their normality for a little while longer, or he would send Professor Van Helsing to deal with them. Besides, Mina wasn’t ready yet. She was still only human, still breathing, still weak. She lay down in her bed in the guestroom that night (alone, Jonathan taking what had been Lucy’s room), and hung onto the ring till her hand bled again, but though she felt her teeth ache, she was not yet what she would be. Not yet.

And when she was, she decided, staring darkly out into the emptiness, she would make the Professor pay for what he had done. She didn’t even have to think about how she would do it: she knew. All is desire, Lucy had said, but the world was made of only one desire for Mina now – the desire for revenge.

 

The days passed with interminable slowness. One day, two, three. She was nearly there – and thank goodness, for Jonathan was almost impossible to keep at bay. Any longer and he might savage her for possession of the ring, or abandon his pretence at humanity and give the game away as he laughed in Dr Seward’s face when he made his regular calls – the doctor was still attending Mrs Weston as well as poor Jonathan.

But on the fourth day after the Professor had destroyed Dracula, Dr Seward told Mina when he left that Jonathan seemed to be doing well and he would return next week unless she wanted him sooner.

“Thank you,” Mina had said, smiling up at him. She had put out her hand to his wrist lightly. “When does the Professor leave? I wouldn’t like to miss him.”

Dr Seward had flickered an uncertain look to her face, but he merely said, “Before the end of the week, I believe. He is satisfied now that the, er, the Count is finally gone.”

“I shall be certain to make my farewells,” said Mina. She smiled again. “Thank you once more, Dr Seward!”

As he left and they heard him out in the hallway, saying goodbye to Mrs Perkins, Jonathan emerged from the other door, laughing. “Tonight,” he said, catching hold of Mina, spinning her round in his excitement. “It is tonight, isn’t it?”

For one moment, Mina caught her breath and saw the enormity of what she intended. For one moment, she hesitated. Her hand trembled – the hand on which she wore the ring. (It seemed to fit her now, as it had not at the start.) And besides, _could_ she do it? Were the feelings that burned in her blood and overwhelmed her mind to be trusted? Tonight, would she have the power and the strength that she needed? Or would she be the one who was left seeming only a mad woman?

“Mina?” said Jonathan, letting go of her.

She shivered, and looked back towards the door, to where Dr Seward had been. If she ran after him –

“Mina!”

Mina turned again to Jonathan and met his gaze. Her doubts vanished. She stretched up to kiss him. “Yes,” she said, whispering close against his skin. “Oh, yes, dearest. Tonight.”

 

Lying there, alone, Mina felt a pain in her heart and gasped for breath, before the moment had passed and she felt unhurt again; the only difference being that everything felt clearer and sharper than it had before. The changes had been so gradual over the days, that the last hardly even registered. It didn’t seem to matter any more whether she was alive or dead by the standards of men of science. She simply _was_ , and she knew what she was going to do. Her mouth curved into a slow, satisfied smile and sharp teeth gleamed in a moment of moonlight.

 

“Why didn’t he do this?” she said later in Jonathan’s room, waking him from his sleep. She put out a hand to prevent him from rising. The Count had tormented Jonathan and stolen Lucy, and for all Mina was ready to use his power, she wasn’t sure she understood that. What she intended was simpler: she would give them all what they wanted.

Jonathan shook his head. “You don’t understand.”

“No, my love,” said Mina. “I’m not the Master. I’m something else.” She drew back, fangs clearly visible now, even in the gloom. “You, too, now.”

She bent down, pressing her head against his neck and then Jonathan gasped out a protest. The will to survive was ingrained deep, even when survival seemed worth so little and Jonathan had been begging for this one thing for months. Mina wanted to laugh, the realisation exciting her. This was how it would be from now on; the thrill of it, the taste of the blood, the unquenchable desire –

Jonathan cried out in pain.

“Shh,” said Mina in Jonathan’s ear, stroking his hair and quietening him. “Shh, my darling, shh. I said it would be all right – and now it will.” She pulled back again and lunged for his neck, Jonathan giving another stifled cry that soon subsided into moans. It was the first time he’d been happy to be with her for so very long. The memory of how it felt to be abandoned was too vivid; she felt an echo of it cutting at her heart even now.

“Mina,” he murmured when she finished, raising a languid hand to her nearby cheek, his eyelids fluttering even as he tried to hold them open; his hand fell back to his side. “Mina.”

She caressed his face, watching consciousness pass from him. “Yes, soon, Jonathan. Tomorrow, I promise. Tomorrow.”

 

Two days later, Mina waited for her visitor to arrive. The house was silent as the evening drew on. The servants had been given the day off and Jonathan was hiding in Lucy’s room – he could not be trusted to alert their guest to the truth too soon. And Mrs Weston was lying still in her own room. Mina had meant to let her join the elect – she would save all she could of Lucy – but nature had been too swift for her. 

The doorbell rang. Mina gave a small smile and rose, gliding out into the main hallway.

“Dr Seward,” she said, opening the door to admit him. “I fear you have come too late.”

He stepped into the hallway, a shadow crossing his face. “Mrs Weston is dead?”

“I’m afraid so,” said Mina. “But, please, go and see.” She clenched her fingers into a fist, nails cutting into her palm. She could hear his heartbeat and her transformation was still too new to her to make it easy to control her desires. She helped him off with his coat and avoided looking for too long at his neck.

“Mrs Harker?” he said, after a moment.

Mina shook herself. “Oh, she is in her room. You know the way?”

As he passed her, she turned her face away, not wanting him to see her glee. If he had, even he might have suspected something, however little he wished to.

“Mina,” said Jonathan, opening the door behind her. “He’s here?”

She kissed his cheek and pushed him back into the hallway. “You heard. And you need not fear – you shall have your share. We need this done swiftly, do we not?”

“Why should we worry over _him_ – one weak mortal? We should be out there – the night is ours, Mina! The night – the hunt – everything!”

Mina pushed him back through the door. “Yes, but please, be quiet until I’m finished, Jonathan! I know what I’m doing. Do remember that the Professor is a very inconvenient mortal. You know what he did – and what we shall do now. So, go – shh.” Mina wanted her revenge. She craved it as much as she craved the blood, and the life that went with it. She swung around, waiting for John to return. She and Jonathan would have both tonight. In some ways, so would John.

 

When Dr Seward returned to the living room, Mina hurried over to meet him, taking his hand as he held it out to her in instinctive sympathy. She was still wearing full mourning for tonight at least, her stiff skirts rustling as she moved – after all, black covered a multitude of sins. She did not let go of Dr Seward’s hand, tightening her hold until he looked at her in surprise.

Mina smiled slowly. “I’m so sorry John. It must be quite unbearable to have lost so much.”

“It was hardly unexpected,” he said, though his forehead wrinkled in incomprehension at her way of phrasing it. “But Lucy –”

Mina lifted her head sharply. “Yes,” she said, and she dug her nails into his hand. “Yes, Lucy! Exactly. You lost Lucy, you could never save Mrs Weston with your medicine – and now Jonathan and I are lost too, despite all your effort.”

He frowned further. “Mrs Harker, are you sure you’re quite well? Should I send for Mrs Perkins?”

“Mrs Perkins isn’t here,” said Mina. “And no, I’m not well – as you would term it. Really, John, I would expect a doctor to notice when he’s speaking to a dead woman, but I suppose there are extenuating circumstances.” 

As he tried to back away, dropping his doctor’s bag onto the floor, hitting the rug with a muted thud, Mina drew him down onto the couch.

“Here,” she said, pulling open the front of her dress. “Check for my heartbeat. You don’t have to take my word for it.”

“Good God! Mrs Harker –”

She laughed and leant forward, putting her other hand to his lapel, the ring glinting in the lamplight. “Don’t be alarmed. I can give you what you want – what we both want.”

“Mrs Harker,” he said, leaning away from her, into the side of the chair.

She shook her head, still amused. “Revenge,” she said, shifting forwards, “and an escape from the pain. What is there worth staying for now?”

“Revenge?” he said, his voice falling to a whisper. “But I – I –”

Mina leant forwards. She could hear his heart beating more wildly now but he didn’t even try to move away. “You know who to blame for Lucy’s death.”

“Dracula – the Count – I-”

“No. He gave her life – life everlasting! You saw, didn’t you? Felt her, as close as I am now – touching you.” Mina raised her free hand to his cheek and felt something in him give; he sagged slightly against the cushioned back. “You know who destroyed her – or failed to save her, look at it any way you please!”

John spluttered for a moment, but she held his gaze, and he said it, as she’d been so sure that he would. “The Professor – Van Helsing.”

“Yes,” said Mina. She released her hold on him at last. “Dear John, let me give you what she would have done – and with it the most perfect revenge.” She worked on his tie and he didn’t attempt to stop her. She felt the rush of blinding need within – she could almost taste the blood, the life, even before she sank her fangs into his neck, forgetting everything but the pleasure of it.

Jonathan’s reappearance startled her. “Leave some for me, Mina,” he whispered in her ear, before grabbing at Dr Seward from the other side, heedless of the awkwardness of his position, half bending over the couch as he joined her in the feast. It had to be finished tonight, now. There must be no chance for the Professor to prevent them.

As John slid lifeless from the couch, the Harkers looked at each other. Mina wiped blood from her mouth and laughed again. “And now,” she said, “we only have to wait for the other one.”

“He’ll come?”

Mina nodded. “I sent him a message. I’m sure the good Professor won’t fail to rush here to advise me on the matter of vampires.”

It was Jonathan’s turn to laugh.

 

Mina waited, standing by the door without tiring or growing impatient. Jonathan, lounging against the wall, kept shifting about and muttering longingly of the night, of having wings to fly at last, but she merely frowned and shook her head at him. 

She held a small pistol in her hands. One of the benefits of her abilities was the ease of persuasion, of theft if necessary. This weapon, of course, was not very much in the Count’s line. Perhaps she was a more modern sort of vampire, or perhaps this was one last act of Mina’s, as she had been. She did not care. She only waited for him to walk in: she would hear his approach, hear his heartbeat. A vampire would not miss her target. 

“I still don’t understand,” said Jonathan from across the room. “I think it would be much more entertaining to send the doctor back to him.”

Mina shook her head at him. _Silence_ , she said in his mind and, as she had turned him, he must subside. He was right in one sense, but Van Helsing would have the same fate he had given to Lucy: he was never to be one of the elect, nor to be found among the living. Mina was going to make certain of it.

 

She heard the Professor walking up the grave path to the house, even before he reached the inexplicably open door of the darkened house. She heard him catch his breath and his footsteps faltered. She could almost, moments later, feel him steel himself to go on. Mina did the same, her finger ready on the trigger. 

When Van Helsing walked in the door to the room, blinking in the lamplight in sudden contrast to the gloom of the entrance hall, Mina raised her head and straightened her aim.

“Good evening, Professor,” she said. “I’m so very glad you came!”

She fired.

He fell. It was an oddly flat, heavy sound; a prosaic way to end a life.

“Mrs Harker,” he gasped, on the floor, not quite dead yet, but he was bleeding and she could feel the life retreating from him by inches. 

It was an intoxicating sensation. She nearly forgot her purpose, despite her earlier feeding on Dr Seward. There was blood, blood pooling on the carpet and sinking in. The stains would be impossible to get out, one human corner of her mind noted. Mina laughed at herself and found she’d moved forwards without realising, fatally drawn by the blood, but Jonathan reached her side in only another heartbeat, his arms around her, holding her back.

“Now you’ve done it,” he said in her ear, “better to finish it as you planned. He’s got a devious mind. You were right. His blood might be tainted – poisoned –”

Mina realised she wouldn’t put something like that past Van Helsing, either, to make such use of garlic or holy water as a precaution, only because she had spoken of the undead to him again. She threw down the pistol – fire, gunpowder, and iron, not something she wanted to touch any longer, she found – and knelt down in front of him.

“John will be ours,” she hissed. “But not you – never you!”

He lifted his head with one last effort, taking in John, nearby on the carpet. “Have mercy – save his soul! Ah, but you will not now – you cannot. You also are lost.”

“I _have_ saved him,” she said. “Saved him from misery – pain – loneliness – all your work! And I will find others – Jonathan and I shall continue the Master’s work, and you will no longer be here to stop us.”

The Professor had gone beyond words. She stayed close to feel the last of his life bleed out and then she retained control enough to wipe her hands on the black skirt and stand.

“And, now, yes, you may go out – fly, as you please,” said Mina to Jonathan, who only hesitated to look down at Dr Seward.

“Do we have to keep him?”

Mina followed his gaze. “It’s what Lucy would have wanted.” And what Van Helsing would most hate – and John was, to Mina, one last link to Lucy. She would have saved Lucy’s mother too, if fate hadn’t intervened. “My poor Lucy.” She swung around, shaking off the moment of perhaps too-human sadness and shooed Jonathan away. “Yes, go, fly! I shall stay – and think about our future. Where we will go next. We can do anything we choose!”

“Go?” Then Jonathan grinned. “Of course. We can’t stay here. Who would want to stay _here_?”

Mina watched him change – even to her eyes, the transformation to bat was a blur – and then smiled.

The whole world was theirs, with no one left to stand in their way – and she couldn’t wait to seize it by the neck.


End file.
